(CNN) - Even with a last-minute decision to move indoors, the Democratic Party's festivities tonight will not include the time-honored tradition of a balloon drop at the end of Barack Obama's acceptance speech. But just how old is that tradition, and how much has it mattered to the Democrats?

The 1956 Republican gathering that re-nominated Dwight Eisenhower marks the first time that newspapers mention a balloon drop at a convention. The Republicans have staged a balloon drop at every convention since then - an unbroken record of 15 conventions, including this year's meeting in Florida when about 120,000 balloons and 500 pounds of confetti were dumped on delegates from the rafters of the Tampa Bay Times Forum.FULL POST